Editing Shiva (section)

=== Smarta tradition ===
{{Main|Panchayatana puja}}
[[File:Traditional Indian Print by Artist Raja Ravi Varma.jpg|thumb|Oleograph by [[Raja Ravi Varma]] depicting a Shiva-centric Panchayatana. A bearded Shiva sits in the centre with his wife Parvati and their infant son Ganesha; surrounded by (clockwise from left upper corner) Ganesha, Devi, Vishnu, and Surya. Shiva's mount is the bull Nandi below Shiva.]]
In the [[Smarta tradition]] of Hinduism, Shiva is a part of its [[Panchayatana puja]].<ref name="Bühnemann2003p60">{{cite book|author=Gudrun Bühnemann|author-link=Gudrun Bühnemann|title=Mandalas and Yantras in the Hindu Traditions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kQf2m8VaC_oC&pg=PA60|year=2003|publisher=Brill Academic|isbn=978-9004129023|page=60|access-date=6 October 2016|archive-date=16 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116175701/https://books.google.com/books?id=kQf2m8VaC_oC&pg=PA60#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> This practice consists of the use of icons or anicons of five deities considered equivalent,<ref name="Bühnemann2003p60" /> set in a [[quincunx]] pattern.<ref name="Harle1994p141">{{cite book|author=James C. Harle|title=The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent| url=https://archive.org/details/artarchitectureo00harl |url-access=registration|year=1994|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0300062175|pages=[https://archive.org/details/artarchitectureo00harl/page/140 140]–142, 191, 201–203}}</ref> Shiva is one of the five deities, others being Vishnu, [[Devi]] (such as [[Parvati]]), [[Surya]] and [[Ganesha]] or [[Kartikeya|Skanda]] or any personal god of devotee's preference ([[Ishta Devata]]).{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontohi0000floo/page/17 17]}}

Philosophically, the Smarta tradition emphasises that all idols ([[murti]]) are icons to help focus on and visualise aspects of Brahman, rather than distinct beings. The ultimate goal in this practice is to transition past the use of icons, recognise the Absolute symbolised by the icons,<ref>{{cite book|author=J. N. Farquhar|title=Outline of the Religious Literature of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lwggjSPrjxUC |year=1984|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-8120820869|page=180}}</ref> on the path to realising the [[Advaita Vedanta|nondual]] identity of one's Atman (Self) and the Brahman.<ref>{{cite book|author=Edwin F. Bryant|title=Krishna: A Sourcebook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2n4VDAAAQBAJ |year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199724314|pages=313–314}}</ref> Popularized by [[Adi Shankara]], many Panchayatana mandalas and temples have been uncovered that are from the [[Gupta Empire]] period, and one Panchayatana set from the village of Nand (about 24 kilometres from [[Ajmer]]) has been dated to belong to the [[Kushan Empire]] era (pre-300 CE).{{sfn|Williams|1981|pp=1–4}} The Kushan period set includes Shiva, Vishnu, Surya, Brahma and one deity whose identity is unclear.{{sfn|Williams|1981|pp=1–4}}